Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals that are harmful to both smokers and nonsmokers. At least 250 chemicals are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. At least 69 of these chemicals can cause cancer. These cancer-causing chemicals include the following: Arsenic, Benzene, Beryllium, Butadiene, Cadmium, Chromium, Ethylene oxide, Nickel, Polonium, Vinyl chloride, Formaldehyde, Benzopyrene, Toluene.
When you inhale tobacco smoke, these chemicals enter your lungs and spread around the rest of your body. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and diminishes a person’s overall health. Scientists have shown that these chemicals can damage DNA and change important genes. This causes cancer by making your cells grow and multiply out of control.
12 Most Horrible Cancers Caused By Smoking
- Lung cancer – The incidence of lung cancer is strongly correlated with cigarette smoking, with about 90% of lung cancers resulting from tobacco use. The risk of lung cancer increases with the number of cigarettes smoked over time.
- Larynx Cancer – Smoking tobacco causes most laryngeal cancers. Heavy smokers are most at risk for laryngeal cancer. For people who already have laryngeal cancer, quitting may reduce the chance of cancer returning after treatment.
- Oral Cavity Cancer – Around 91% of oral cavity cancers were linked to lifestyle and smoking. Smoking tobacco causes around 70% of oral and pharyngeal cancers in men, and around 55% in women.
- Pharynx Cancer – Pharyngeal Cancershow a strong association with alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking, particularly of cigarettes and cigars – in fact, tobacco is thought to be implicated in well over 80% of cases of pharynx cancer.
- Cancer of the Esophagus – Smoking increases the risk of oesophageal cancer. Recent cohort study shows that heavy smokers have a nine-fold risk increase for oesophageal cancer.
- Cancer of the Pancreas – Cigarette smoking is one of the biggest risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer. For example, smoking during college has been associated with a 2-3 fold increased risk of pancreatic cancer.
- Cancer of the Cervix – Women smokers are about twice as likely as non-smokers to get cervical cancer. Tobacco by-products have been found in the cervical mucus of women smokers. Researchers believe that these substances damage the DNA of cervix cells and may contribute to the development of cervical cancer.
- Kidney Cancer – Smoking increases the risk with the number of cigarettes that you smoke. People who smoke more than 1 pack a day can have up to double the risk of the most common type of kidney cancer (renal cell cancer) compared to non-smokers.
- Bladder Cancer – Carcinogens in tobacco smoke are absorbed from the lungs and get into the blood. From the blood, they are filtered by the kidneys and concentrated in the urine. These chemicals in urine can damage the cells in the bladder lining, which increases the chance of bladder cancer.
- Cancer of the Ovary – there is sufficient evidence that smoking causes ovarian cancer. Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of developing ovarian cancer called mucinous cancer in current smokers. Deaths related to mucinous ovarian cancer after diagnosis was faster in smokers compared to nonsmokers.
- Colorectal Cancer – studies suggest that long-term cigarette smoking is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Long-term cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer mortality in both men and women. Risk is reduced with early smoking cessation.
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia – Smoking may account for 17% of myeloid leukaemia.Smoking cigarettes can increase the risk of developing acute myeloid leukaemia. Researchers estimate that smoking doubles or triples the risk of AML. But the risk quickly drops if you stop smoking.
Quitting smoking is the best thing a smoker can do to improve their health. Quitting greatly reduces the risk of smoking-related cancers. The earlier you quit, the better. Stop smoking Sydney services and treatments are also available. Smokers are much more likely to quit successfully if they get professional support.
